noteful | Birthday Party for Laura/X-23

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Birthday Party for Laura/X-23

It's a pretty low-key party, all things considered, and not significantly different than the one Parker or Meg would have thrown in a dorm room for a friend at home, not-exactly-traditional menu not withstanding.

There's music, low enough to talk over (and maybe with a little more folk in the mix than one expects to find a party). Balloons and streamers in purple and blue and red. A place to leave presents. People to meet or catch up with.

And, most importantly, a chance to wish X-23 (or Laura) a very happy birthday.

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A flicker of a wry smile.

"That would be useful."

"You've got kind of a wait on your world before they're invented," Cal drastically understates, "but I bet you could set something up at Milliways."

"They are played on, in, a black box?"

"Yup," Cal says. He won't confuse her by mentioning movie theaters right now. "There's another box you hook up to the black box, and you put the copy of the movie in that and it plays on the television. The black box."

"I'll ask Luce to show me how it works."

Cal nods. He vaguely remembers Sam saying something about not being great with technology - Cal had to replace his watch after they spent the night together - but that was just after a certain length of time, right?

"Bar can help you find things you'll want to watch," he says. "She helped me with X's movies."

Cal isn't really familiar enough with the Western genre to know anything beyond titles he was pretty sure X already had.

"What did you get her?"

"Um." Cal can't quite remember the titles. He also has no idea how to describe the Western genre to a woman from ancient Greek mythology.

"A movie about a cursed gu - weapon, and one about a judge who was kind of crazy. And one I watched with her once before, but it's the version from my world, so it has music. I'm kinda curious to see what she thinks."

He's willing to bet that X's reaction to his world might be a bit different from the usual one.

"So, they still have curses in the future?"

"Well. It depends on the world, I think. Not all of them have magic. Mine doesn't. But it sounds like at least some of the magic worlds do still have curses. And even the ones that don't have - uh, the idea of them, I guess," Cal explains.

"Even though they don't have working magic?"

"Yeah," Cal says. "I mean, I can't speak for every world, but on mine, magic is - a story. Something people used to believe in to explain things before science - uh. Was discovered. And people mostly know that there's no such thing, but they still tell stories about it."

Her curved eyebrows arch over her glasses.

"How strange."

Cal grins at that.

"Yeah, I guess that must sound kinda weird when your world really does have magic."

"A little. It doesn't...always work, of course, but it seems odd that there is the idea without the reality behind it. Where would they get the idea from?"

"I don't really know," Cal admits. "Uh - like a said, it was a way to explain things. That's how they came up with gods, too. I . . . don't think my world has any of those."

That's more a matter of subjective interpretation than magic is, but Cal's always held firm to that point. Growing up in a political family, with that cynical lifestyle, made it impossible to develop any kind of faith.

"So who created your world?"

"The Big Bang," Cal says. "I don't know, I can't really explain it, but - it's science. Not religion."

"But what is-"

She stops, frowning.

"That makes no sense."

Cal shrugs a little, thinking.

"I guess," he says slowly, "the idea is that - uh. Reality takes care of itself. Things don't happen because a god makes them happen, they happen because . . . they react off each other. It just all works."

Oddly enough, the Gorgon smiles at that.

"I like the sound of that idea."

Cal blinks at that, but smiles.

"Beats the alternative, in my opinion."

She ducks her head down, snakes hissing softly.

"For...what it would mean...I think so, too. Although, without gods, I don't have my...parents."

"Oh. Yeah, that'd be a problem," Cal concedes. "A god-free world wouldn't do you much good if you weren't around to enjoy it."

"Besides, it'd be a very quiet world."

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Re: Mingle with the other guests

Re: Mingle with the other guests

Re: Mingle with the other guests

Re: Mingle with the other guests

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Re: Mingle with the other guests